Rumors of a refreshed new iPad tablet proved true earlier today as Apple announced their 9.7-inch new iPad 4th generation tablet.
The new 4th-gen slab includes the same high-res Retina Display and 5-megapixel iSight camera of its 3rd-gen cousin. However, the 4th-generation tablet has dropped the 30-pin dock connector in favor of Apple’s new Lightning port that’s also included on the iPhone 5.
The graphics performance has also been enhanced, trading the old A5x processor for the new A6X processor, which includes twice the performance, yet still keeps the battery life pushing up to 10 hours. The iPad’s FaceTime camera has also been updated to an HD unit for improved video conferencing.
What might be more interesting than anything is how quickly the update came to the iPad line. It wasn’t very long ago that the last generation iPad was announced. It’s now obsolete with the iPad mini inheriting much of the zing from the iPad 2 and the new iPad completely replacing the third generation one, which has been discontinued by Apple (though refurbished devices are still available).
As for pricing, the 4th-generation iPad will cost the same as the previous generation, with the Wi-Fi model starting at $499 for a 16GB version and the LTE model costing $629 for a 16GB version. As with the iPad Mini, you can pre-order the 4th-gen iPad starting October 26th, with Wi-Fi versions shipping on November 2nd from Apple. The cellular version will be shipping in a few weeks.